Cooking with Elsie

British Cheese Week and Baked Camembert in its box…

Today begins British Cheese Week after tonight’s British Cheese Awards in Cardiff.

The British farmhouse cheese industry goes from strength to strength with every year. At the present time, there are over 700 named cheeses made in Britain and Ireland and the Cheese Festival in Cardiff this weekend celebrates all that is great about British cheese. There are masterclasses and tastings and, according to my mother who would know, some delicious beanburgers available from the festival grounds! It’s definitely worth a visit if you’re at a loose end this weekend and is open on Saturday and Sunday.

I am all for celebrating cheese and everything related and so in honour of this, I baked some camembert in its box this week; the English kind, called Tunworth. It’s not a very complicated recipe but my god, it’s a comforting, big hug, heap of a blanket kind of a treat. I often see this on menus and want it but it seems rather gluttonous and I usually get distracted by prawn cocktails or alcoholic cocktails!

Below is a guideline of sorts because it’s not really a recipe but it’s delicious and my friend swears by pouring wine over the cheese before putting it in the oven, something she learned while chalet-girling in the Alps and if they do it then it’s probably pretty good!

Baked Tunworth in its box.

a whole small Tunworth in the little wooden box

a clove of garlic, peeled and halved

Take the cheese from it’s wooden box and remove the paper wrapping. Soak the box in water for a couple of minutes to ensure it doesn’t burn when it’s in the oven. Push the cheese back into the box.

Smear the top of the cheese with the cut halves of garlic.

Place in an oven at about 180 C for 20 minutes. Remove when hot and bubbling.

I served mine with tomato chutney, my own, homemade, recipe to follow soon, and lots of crusty toasted shards of ciabatta. Being a huge fan of fondue, I think it would be nice to use boiled new potatoes as dipping efforts too!